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FALL ANTS
"You should be out on the creek about 4:30 or so tomorrow evening. The big carpenter ants are flying and I saw lots of them tonight. You and Dee should have good fishing until dark."
When my nephew, the professional fly fishing outfitter, gives me a hot tip on a potential fly fishing opportunity I tend to pay attention.
Neil,
The first fly I ever tied was a hard-bodied black ant(built-up 6/o thread with 2 turns of black hackle in cntr of big and little bumps). Caught many fish on it using fly gear and spinning gear. If you don't have a boat or can't wade to reach the working fish with a fly rod, a spinning rod with a spinning bubble and 9 to 10 ft. leader can be your savior. I've only encountered an ant swarm one time on Penns Creek and the fish had me stumped for a minute. The fish started boiling but there wasn't a thing in the air! Finally enough of the ants were floating past so I could see what they were hitting. The swarm itself was up around the bend somewhere. I had a(secret) spot on the Escanaba River in the U.P. of Michigan where I had to wade the river because of the impenetrable jungle along the banks. It was gusty that day, and just when I neared an over hanging tree the wind gusted. Immediately a couple of fish rose. The wind died before I could get a cast under the branches and I could not get a take as long as the wind was calm! I had to wait for a gust to blow some ants from the tree in order to get a rise. They would not touch the fly otherwise! I played this cat and mouse game until they got wise to me! FUN STUFF!!!!!
Best regards, Dave S. (fishdog54)